British Columbia is continuing its successful upward trajectory in a post-pandemic economy with its lowest unemployment rate in three years.

In May 2022, the unemployment rate in BC dropped to 4.5%, according to the most recent Labour Force Survey results. The province has not seen an unemployment rate that low since July 2019, just a few months before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This rate is a significant improvement from the numbers recorded in April 2022 at 5.4% and May 2021 at 7%. And today, there are now nearly 100,000 more people working in BC than there were before the pandemic.

Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, reports in Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for May 2022 that, “as we focus on creating an economy built for everyone, BC continues to lead Canada’s economic recovery with the addition of 5,100 new jobs in May.”

“With more than one million jobs forecast over the next decade, we remain laser-focused on meeting our generational commitment to close the skills gap and train more people for the jobs of the future,” he said.

In 2019, British Columbia’s unemployment rate was 4.7%, which was lower than Canada’s unemployment rate of 6.9%. And among Canada’s four largest cities, Vancouver held the lowest unemployment rate for most of 2021.

Since the height of the pandemic in 2020 to mid-2021, most Metro Vancouver businesses have bounced back from COVID-19. Late last year, it was reported that opening businesses increased by 13.4% and closing businesses decreased by 7.4%. Active businesses also increased by 3,587 in the same period.

British Columbia’s success is partly due to its strong economic plan to support its citizens.

The StrongerBC Economic Plan improves BC’s long-term competitiveness through a range of measures aimed at nurturing talent, promoting investment, strengthening infrastructure and fostering innovation in both traditional and new industries.

Through the StrongerBC Economic Plan, BC is taking action to create jobs, train people to work in high-opportunity fields and support businesses in adapting and growing. The plan reinforces the provincial government’s commitments to clean and inclusive economic growth through six action areas, ranging from supporting families to doubling down on BC’s climate commitments.

To learn more, review the full StrongerBC Economic Plan at strongerbc.gov.bc.ca.

Published on June 24, 2022.